Footloose and Free!

The reason for the epic downsizing we undertook last year was we decided to sell our house! After owning the home for 20+ years, we were ready to turn the yard work and maintenance over to someone else. The super hot real estate market helped seal our decision.

Photo by Alexandr Podvalny on Pexels.com

The sale of the house was fast and furious. There was a long line of people waiting in the driveway to go through the house (COVID) and we ended up with 20 offers the first weekend, most waiving inspection and contingency. The couple we sold to was able to take much of the furniture and lawn care items we didn’t have a need for.

We found a new rental apartment in our same community, which was essential so our daughter can finish high school. We love our second story view of the sunsets, the beautiful grounds, and heated, underground parking. We are paying a premium for our location right now, but can consider a less expensive community once we are empty-nesters. We were grateful to be renters when severe storms knocked power out for many days last summer while we were on vacation. Had we still had our house, we would have been very concerned for our sump pump.

Most of our neighbors are senior citizens from the surrounding community who also sold their house for easier living. Our building is handicapped accessible which is nice when we have family over with mobility issues.

We had kept detailed records in Quicken the whole time we owned a house, so we had a really good idea of what we were spending in a year for expenses related to home ownership. It would have been financially better to continue to stay in our house, but right now, the benefits of renting and enjoying a new, modern space are worth it to us; of course, we can also (safely) invest the money from the sale of the house. We aren’t sure whether we will stay here long-term, but love the idea that we can relocate with minimal hassle.

Big Changes and the Freedom to Make Them

I read through some blog posts I wrote since COVID and was struck by how many changes our family has made in the last 18 months, and grateful we had the financial freedom to make them.

• We chose to not have me return to my library job in a school setting last fall because I would have been supervising unmasked kids at lunch. We were able to make this choice because of being debt-free.
• Once vaccines were becoming available I took a temp job at a hospital vaccine clinic. It paid well, I met great people, and ended up taking a permanent part-time job with that hospital system.
• Now I am riding the wave of opportunity as the hospital has many options for incentive pay due to being short staffed.

For me, one of the best reasons to be debt-free is it gives you more flexibility when life sends you unexpected situations. We were able to have me not work until vaccines were available, and when I went back to work I ended up in a better paying and more stable job!

The freedom to not work for 6 months led to some epic changes in our lifestyle, including a downsizing for the ages. That deserves its own post or two!